How to Make Business Decisions Your People Get Behind
“I am heartened to find so much wit in you, that you’d give thought to consequences and choose your way with reason, not passion only.”
–DEBORAH LIGHTFOOT, THE WYSARD
Next we turn to the important topic of decision making. Winning Well managers are clear on how the decision will be made and who is involved, erring on the side of inclusion whenever possible.
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“This is so stupid—you asked for my opinion and then ignored it. I don’t know why I even bother! From now on, I’m just going to shut my mouth and do my work.”
We’ve both heard these words and so has nearly every manager we’ve ever worked with. You may even have been the one to say them. This kind of frustration and anger reflects a broken decision-making process and goes far beyond one upset employee. In this chapter we show you why this happens and how to fix it.
Many managers struggle with frustration, bitterness, and loss of soul because they engage in a hopeless war with human nature by ignoring people’s need to be included in discussions about where they are going, why they are going there, and how they will get there.
The truth is that most people will work with a decision when they are clear about what is required and why the decision was made, and if they had input into the decision. It doesn’t mean they have to love it. They’re adults and don’t expect that every single decision will go their way. They do want to know that their information, values, and perspective were taken into consideration
You will always come out ahead when you work with human nature, not against it. It takes less time, is easier in many ways, and is more sustainable—you can keep it up for years without burning out.
As you saw in Chapter 5, one of the most common types of meetings you hold is the meeting to make a decision. If you want your team to win, you’ve got build their decision-making expertise. However, in companies we work with, from global multinationals to four-person start-ups in industries ranging from hardware engineering to nonprofit human service, we consistently see ineffective decision making lead to manager frustration, poor employee engagement, and general organizational dysfunction.
You can’t afford to have your people retreat from decisions; you need their input to ensure that the best decisions are made and so they have buy-in for implementation. In our experience, most management training overlooks this skill. That’s sad, because with just a few key practices added to your meeting checklist, you can save yourself weeks or months of lost time and frustration while also increasing employee engagement. In fact, there are just two critical pieces of information you need to introduce at the start of your discussion:
1. What kind of decision is this?
2. Who owns the decision?
WHAT KIND OF DECISION IS THIS?
The first step to making decisions that everyone gets behind is to make just one decision at a time and limit discussion to that single decision. We see teams waste precious hours and weeks arguing about the wrong things. Everything else is either better discussed individually (for instance, how an individual is going to tackle a project or what kind of training he will receive) or isn’t a decision at all (for instance, a personal discussion reconciling a relationship after someone has let you down). The good news here is that there are only two types of business decisions to make.
The first type is a decision about goals: Where are we going? For example, a space agency might discuss whether to colonize the moon, travel to Mars, or stay home and focus on the Earth. The question, “Where are we going?” can take many forms, but it’s always about your group’s goal, destination, or outcome. Other ways to ask this question are, “What is the outcome we need to achieve?” or, “What does success look like?”
You can’t talk about how you’re going to do those things until you’ve first clearly decided what success looks like. Know where you are going before you discuss how to get there.
The second type of decision is: How will we get there? This is a discussion about methods.
For example, if the decision has been made to go to Mars, “How will we get there?” might be a discussion of whether to use private spacecraft or government ships. Or whether this will this be a one-way trip or a return mission.
Separate discussions about where you are going from how you will get there. Managers get in trouble when they allow these discussions to get mixed up. The team starts out talking about whether to go to the moon, to Mars, or focus on Earth, and 30 minutes later they’re discussing the benefits of private versus public funding, then a few minutes later they’re arguing about where they might land on the moon. The discussion is confused, perplexing, and wastes time because the question isn’t clear.
Let’s return to the upset employee we quoted at the beginning of the chapter: “This is so stupid—you asked for my opinion and then ignored it. I don’t know why I even bother! From now on, I’m just going to shut my mouth and do my work.”
If you’ve heard this or said it yourself, you’ve experienced the second decision-making mistake managers commit: lack of clarity around decision ownership.
People hate feeling ignored. Unfortunately, when you ask for input and appear to ignore it, employees feel frustrated, devalued, and powerless. In contrast, when you are clear about who owns the decision and how it will be made, people will readily contribute and are far more likely to own the outcome.
This isn’t difficult, because there are only four ways to make a decision:
1. A single person makes the decision.
Typically, this would be the manager or someone she appoints. In this style of decision making, you might ask your team for input and let them know that after hearing everyone’s perspective, you will make the decision.
2. A group makes the decision through a vote.
This might be a 50-percent-plus-one majority or a two-thirds majority, but in any case, it’s a decision by vote. With this option, you ask everyone to contribute input, and they know that the decision will be made by a vote at a specific time.
3. A team makes the decision through consensus.
Consensus is often misunderstood. Consensus decision making means that the group continues discussion until everyone can live with a decision. It does not mean everyone got his or her first choice, but that everyone can live with the final decision. Consensus decision making can take more time and often increases everyone’s ownership of the final decision.
You can flip a coin, roll the dice, draw from a hat, etc. There are times where flipping a coin is the most efficient way to make a decision. When time is of the essence, the stakes are low, and pro-con lists are evenly matched, it’s often good to just pick an option and go. For example, if you have 45 minutes for a team lunch, it doesn’t make any sense to spend 30 minutes discussing options. Narrow it down to a few places, flip a coin, and go.
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Each way of deciding has advantages, but what’s most important is to be very clear about who owns the decision.
When that person said, “You asked for my opinion and then ignored it. I don’t know why I even bother!” he was under the impression that the team would decide by vote or consensus when in reality it was the leader’s decision. This type of confusion wastes tons of precious time and energy and sucks the soul from your team.
Before discussion begins, state how the decision will be made. You get yourself in trouble (not to mention that it’s unfair, disem-powering, and quite soulless) if you suggest a vote and then change back to “I’ll decide” when you think the vote won’t go your way.
Before discussion begins, be clear about who owns the decisions. How will this decision be made?
Be specific. For example, you might begin a decision-making session by saying, “Okay, I’d like to spend the next 40 minutes getting everyone’s input, and then I’ll make the decision.” Or, you might describe the decision to be made and say, “We’re not going to move forward until everyone can live with the decision.”
You might even combine methods and say, “We will discuss this decision for 30 minutes. If we can come to a consensus by then, that would be great. If not, we’ll give it another 15 minutes. After that, if we don’t have consensus, I’ll take a final round of feedback and I’ll choose, or we’ll vote.”
You save yourself grief, misunderstanding, and hurt feelings when everyone knows up front how the decision will be made. You also empower your people to be more influential because when they know who owns the decision, they also know how to share their information. Do they need to persuade the single decision maker, a majority, or the entire team? They can choose their most relevant information and arguments.
YOUR WINNING WELL ACTION PLAN
Think about the next decision you will make with your employees.
1. What kind of decision will this be: Where are you going, or How will you get there?
2. Who owns the decisions: you, the team through a vote, or the team through consensus?
3. When the decision is made, use the Winning Well Meeting Formula to clarify who does what, by when, and how you will know.
Think about a decision where you will participate but will not lead the meeting.
1. Can you articulate what kind of decision the group will make? If not, how can you ask for clarity?
2. Is it clear who owns the decisions? If not, what specifically can you do to gain clarity?